Bible Views on Abortion: Unborn as Children

Abortion: What Does The Bible Say? File:Samuel Armas Aug19 1999.jpg Since Roe vs. Wade 1973, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLTC) says it reached an estimated 62,502,904 abortions by tracking data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Guttmacher Institute (California, New Hampshire, and Maryland numbers are excluded from the data.)

Abortion! Definition: Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. [note 1 ] Definitions of abortion vary from one source to another. Abortion has many definitions that can differ from each other in significant ways. Given the contentious nature of abortion, lawmakers and other stakeholders often face controversy in defining abortion. Wikipedia

Abortion: What Does The Bible Say? Why This Approach? Because God Exists! Hebrews 11:6; Psalms 14:1; Psalms 19:1. Because Man was created in the image of God. Genesis 1:26-27 We do not suppose this is a physical likeness because God is not flesh and blood, but Spirit (John 4:24). Our likeness to God is our eternal spirit which He gives to us (Zechariah 12:1; Ecclesiastes 12:7). God is the father of our spirits (Hebrews 12:9). Because of man s uniqueness, there must always be held the sanctity for human life (Genesis 9:6). Can it be shown from the Bible that the unborn child has that spirit given from God for life; can the unborn be recognized as alive and a human being?

Abortion: What Does The Bible Say? Why This Approach? cf. 1 Peter 3:15 Because the Bible is the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 1 Corinthians 2:10-13 Because we will be judged by the word of God. John 12:48

The Bible Views the Unborn asChildren! Genesis 25:22-23, The children struggled together within her Jeremiah 1:5, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Jeremiah could have been killed before birth. Jeremiah 20:17-18, because he slew me not from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great. Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

The Bible Views the Unborn asChildren! Luke 1:41, The babe (brephos) leaped in her womb Luke 2:12, And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe (brephos) wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. NOTE: Luke, qualified both by profession (Colossians 4:14, Luke, the beloved physician ) and by inspiration, used this same word to describe the infants put to death in ancient Egypt under the command of Pharaoh Acts 7:19, It was he who took shrewd advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers so that they would expose their infants (brephos) and they would not survive. NASU

The Bible Views the Unborn asChildren! Pregnant women were described as being with child, Genesis 16:11; 1 Samuel 4:19; Genesis 19:36

Other Scriptures Which Infer that the Unborn are Human Beings: Psalms 139:13-16 God formed David in his mother s womb. He used the pronouns I and My to describe himself before birth! For thou didst form my inward parts: Thou didst cover me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks unto thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Wonderful are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My frame was not hidden from thee, when I was made in secret, (and) curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; and in thy book they were all written, (even) the days that were ordained (for me), when as yet there was none of them.

Other Scriptures Which Infer that the Unborn are Human Beings: In Job 3:11 Job asked, Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? Job could not give up what he did not have. Yet, he argues that had he so died he would have been at rest with kings and counsellors of the earth (verses 13-14). If he had been as an hidden untimely birth (miscarriage), he would have been where the weary be at rest (verses 16-17). cf. Job 10:18-19 Job continued by wishing he had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen (him). But again, one cannot give up what he does not have. He would have been carried from the womb to the grave. Job 31:15, Did not he that made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb? Fact: the unborn child constitutes human life! We must appreciate the sanctity of human life! Genesis 9:6.

The questions raised when abortion is considered, When does life begin? When does death occur? To answer one is to answer the other Death is defined scripturally as the separation of the human spirit from the body. (James 2:26; Ecclesiastes 12:7). Certainly a child may die at birth (or before), but as long as he is alive, the human spirit is within him, for without the spirit, his little body would be lifeless. If death occurs when the spirit departs the body, life exists when the spirit and body are together. These passages confirm that LIFE exists in the womb.

Evidence of Life: From conception, when the sperm and egg unite, the child is a complex, dynamic, rapidly growing organism. About seven to nine days after conception, when there are already several hundred cells of the new individual formed, contact with the uterus is made, and implantation and nourishment begin. Blood cells form at 17 days, and a heart as early as 18 days. The heart starts irregular pulsating at 24 days and about a week later smooths into rhythmic contractions. At about 18 days, the development of the nervous system is under way, the baby s eyes begin to form at 19 days, and by the 20thday the foundation of the child s brain, spinal cord, and entire nervous system is established. By the 33rd day, the cerebral cortex (that part of the central nervous system that governs motor activity as well as intellect) may be seen.

Evidence of Life: By the beginning of the second month, the unborn child looks distinctly, human, yet the mother is not aware that she is pregnant. Brain waves have been noted at 43 days, the heart beats strongly, the stomach produces digestive juices, the liver manufactures blood cells, and the kidneys are functioning. After the 8th week, no further original organs will form everything that is already present will be found in the full-term baby. From this point until adulthood, when full growth is achieved somewhere between 25 and 27 years, the changes in the body will be mainly in dimension. In the 3rd month, the child becomes very active and by the end of the month kicks his legs, turns his feet, moves his thumbs, bends his wrists, turns his head, frowns, squints, and opens his mouth. ( Abortion: The Medical Evidence Against, John M. Langone. As quoted by Clifford Bajema, Abortion And The Meaning of Personhood, Baker, Grand Rapids, pages 25-27)

Abortion What Does The Bible Say? Life is a gift from God. Acts 17:25, He giveth life and breath to all things. Abortion is the taking of innocent blood ! Genesis 9:6; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21; Revelation 21:8; Exodus 20:13; 21:22-23; Romans 13:9 In Proverbs 6:16-17 Solomon tells, There are six things which Jehovah hateth; yea, seven which are an abomination unto him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood

Abortion What Does The Bible Say? The Bible stresses The Sanctity Of Life Genesis 1:26-27 Genesis 9:6, Whoso sheddeth man s blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God made he man. (cf. Hebrews 12:9) Abortion Creates A Culture of Death! Where will it all end? If we do not value the life of an unborn child Will it lead us to put to sleep the aged, the infirm, the mental patient, the deformed, or diseased? Continue to instruct our young people in true moral values and biblical principles. Proverbs 14:34, Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

Conclusion: Jesus came to give us Life! John 14:6, I am the Way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. John 1:4, In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. 1 John 5:12, He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life.